gavin



(No Model.)

J. H. GAVIN & J. McGUIRE.

' WATER CLOSET.

No; 588,224. v Patented Aug. 17,1897.

WIT 5581513. J/v VJZNTORS. .Tamv .GRYIN 8&0. J'oHN FGmRE UNITED STATES PATENT QFFICE,

JOHN H. GAVIN AND JOHN MCGUIRE, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNORS TO THE L. WOLFF MANUFACTURING COMPANY, OF SAME PLACE.

WATER-CLO'S ET.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 588,224, dated August 1'7, 1897.

Application filed February 24, 1896. Serial No. 580,5 77. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it mayooncern:

I Be it known that we, JOHN H. GAVIN and JOHN MCGUIRE, citizens of the United States, residing in Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Water-Closets, of which the following is a specification. 7

Our invention relates to improvements'in closets or other earthenware articles having hinged seats or covers, and more particularly to i'mprovements in the means for hinging such seats or covers to the earthenware.

Heretofore in the manufacture of earthenware water-closets it has not been practical or convenient to secure the hinges for the seat or cover directly to the earthenware of the bowl, owing to the natural tendency of the earthenware to unequally shrink and warp in the baking operation, and thus change the relative position of the holes or devices which may be provided in the earthenware for attachment of the hinges, the shrinkage and warping of the earthenware thus throwing the location of thehinges out of axial line with each other and causing the lid or cover to bind on its hinges or to occupy a position more or less askew to the closet. For these and other reasons it has heretofore been customary to secure a strip of woodacross the rear portion of the earthenware bowl to which the hinges are directly attached, although the use of such wooden hinge-strip not only increases the cost, but is also objectionable and unsanitary. s

The object of our improvement is to provide a means for hinging the seats and covers to earthenware water-closet bowls or other articles by which the wooden hinge-strip may be entirely dispensedwith, while at the same time the seat or cover. may be easily and quickly hingeddirectly to the earthenware in a true and proper position in respect to the bowl and without any tendency of the hinges to bind notwithstanding any change which may occur, due to the warpage or shrinkage in the baking operation,-in the relative position of the holes, projections, or devices in the earthenware in or to which the hinges are attached and by which also the use of of the hinges together may be dispensed with.

To this end our invention consists, in connection with a seat or cover and an earthenware water-closet or other article, of two pairs of hinges for hinging the seat or cover to the earthenware at the two rear corners of the seat or cover and each comprising a ball and socket or a half-ball and socket, the one secured to or formed integral with the closet and the other attached to the seat or cover, so that however much the true relative position of the two parts of the hinge which are attached to the earthenware may be changed by the shrinkage or warpage of the earthenware in the baking operation the two ball- .and-socket hinges may nevertheless operate perfectly and freely without binding.

It further consists, in cases where the water-closet bowl is provided with both seat and cover, in combining with the same pair of hinge balls or sockets which are attached to or formed integral with the earthenware both pairs of the hinged balls or sockets which are attached to the seat and cover, the two hinge balls or sockets attached to the seat fitting, for example, on the outside faces and those attached to the cover fitting on the inside faces of the balls or sockets carried by the bowl, or vice versa.

It further consists, as a preferred or further improved construction, in making the balls or sockets which are carried by the bowl in separate pieces from the bowl and providing them each with a slot to receive the head of the bolt by which it is attached to the earthenware, so that each hinge ball or socket may be independently adjusted in any two directions required by simply turning the hinge ball or socket and its bolt radially andthen sliding the hinge ball or socket in respect to the bowl. By this means any desired adjustment may be effected in two directions, as the ball-and-socket character of the hinge-joint permits this to be done without causing any binding.

In the accompanying drawings, which form a part of this specification and in which similar letters of reference indicate like parts throughout all the views, Figure 1 is a rear elevation of an earthenware water-closet provided with our invention. Fig. 2 is an enlarged detail plan view showing one of the two pairs of hinges. Fig. 3 is a vertical section on line 3 3 of Fig. 2, and Fig. 4 is a partial plan view.

In the drawings, A represents an earthenware water-closet bowl or other earthenware article having a hinged seat or cover. 13 is the seat, and G is the cover. All these parts may be of any desired, suitable, customary, or well-known construction.

D D and F F are hinge balls and sockets. The hinge-balls may be carried either upon the earthenware closet, on the one hand, or on the seat or cover, upon the other hand; but we prefer to secure the hinge-balls to the earthenware and the 11in ge-sockets to the seat and cover, one or both, according as the closet be furnished with both seat and cover or only with the seat alone. The member of the hinge, whether ball or socket, which is carried upon the earthenware may be formed integral therewith or in a separate piece, but we prefer to make it of metal and in a separate piece, as illustrated in the drawings. This member, the ball D, as illustrated in the drawings, is preferably adj ustably attached to the earthenware. This may be done by any suitable means, but we prefer to so adjustably secure it by means of a bolt G, having a head 9, which fits in a slot g in the base G of the hinge member which is secured to the earthenware. By turning the member of the hinge and its bolt G radially into different positions and by sliding the member on the head of the bolt the position of the member of the hinge which is secured to the earthenware may be adjusted either forward or back, as required, or to one side or the otherthat is to say, to or from the other hinge-as may be required.

The two hinge members or sockets F F which are attached to the seat B may [it upon the outside faces d d of the balls D D, while the two hinge-sockets F F which are attached to the cover fit upon the two inside faces (1 d of the balls D D, or vice versa, as may be preferred. It will thus be seen that the hingeballs are embraced upon one side by one pair of sockets and on the opposite side by the other pair of sockets. One advantage of this particular combination or arrangement is that the strain or pressure of one pair of sockets against the balls opposes or neutralizes that of the other pair of sockets against the same, and the same result would of course be secured if the reverse arrangement were employed and the two pairs of halfball hinge parts were secured to the seat and cover, respectively, and the two double-socket hinge parts were secured to the earthenware.

In cases where the seat alone is used without the cover one of the round or ball faces (1 or d of the ball may of course be omitted, ex-

cept in cases where to increase the strength or rigidity of the hinge it is deemed desirable to use double straps F F with each hinge, one secured to the seat to engage the ball-face (l and the other secured to the seat to engage the opposite ball-face d. The straps ffof the hinge members F F may be attached to the seat or cover by screws or other suitable means. As the two opposite sockets or halfsockets F F are secured together rigidly by the seat or cover to which they are firmly secured, and as they embrace upon either the inside or outside the two members of the hinge which are carried upon the bowl, it will be evident that the four members of the two hinges will thus be held in operative position relative to each other.

Ve prefer to make the two members of the hinge F F which are secured to the seat or to the cover in separate pieces, but, if preferred, they may be formed integrally of the same piece of metal.

We claim 1. The combination with an earthenware closet-bowl of a seat and a cover therefor, two ball-and-socket hinges connecting said seat directly with the bowl and two ball-and-socket hinges connecting said cover directly to the bowl, the members of said ball-and-socket hinges attached to the seat and cover embracing the members on the bowl on opposite sides, substantially as specified.

2. The combination with an earthenware closet-bowl of a seat or cover therefor, two ball-and-socket hinges connecting said seat or cover directly to said bowl, and means for adjusting the position of one or more of said hinges on the bowl, substantially as specified.

The combination with a closet-bowl and its seat or cover, of a ball-and-socket hinge having an adjustable member attached to the bowl and adjustable in respect thereto, substantially as specified.

4. The combination with a closet-bowl and its seat or cover, of a ball-and-socket hinge, the member of said hinge secured to the bowl having a slot in its base and a bolt having a head fitting in said slot to permit adjustment of position on the bowl, substantially as specified.

5. The combination with a closet-bowl and its seat or cover, of a ball-and-socket hinge, the member of said hinge secured to the bowl having a slot in its base and a bolt having a head fitting in said slot to permit adjustment of position on the bowl, said slotted base of said hinge member being adapted to turn radially to permitadj ustment in different direc tions as required, substantially as specified.

6. The combination with two ball members of ahinge secured to one part, of two sockethinge members secured to another part, the hinge members secured to the one part embracing on opposite sides the hinge members secured to the other part, substantially as specified.

or more of said hinge members being provided IO with a slotted base and bolt for adjusting its position substantially as specified.

JOHN H. GAVIN. JOHN MCGUIRE.

lVitnesses:

W. B. CLIFFORD, W. D. GoWDY. 

